Powers
Powers, also called Skills, or Spells, are the special actions a player can do to help in combat. A player casts a power, which requires a certain amount of mana, and takes a set amount of time (casting time). After being cast, each power has a certain cooldown time, during which the same power cannot be cast again. Regrettably, much of the information below about powers in this wiki, is somewhat out of date. While volunteers continue to work hard to update the latest developments, the developer has in the last few years been working hard to make the game more enjoyable for the general player demographic. In broad terms, in the last few years, the killing power of Barbarians have been reduced, the staying power of Knights increased, the killing power of Marksman increased and the area of effect spell abilities of the Warlock increased . Disciplines Each basic class in the game has 4 disciplines of powers, and each discipline contains 10 powers. A character starts off with just the first power in each discipline, but as a he levels up, he gains access to higher-level powers and can add more from each discipline to his repertoire. When the character chooses a subclass, he gains an additional 2 disciplines of powers (or 3 for mages). A list of all powers is available. Attributes Powers have these common attributes: Type There are 5 types of powers: Direct, Constant, Activable, Aura and Passive. (...and área?) They can be thought of like this: *Active (not a type in itself, but all powers that can be cast) **Direct (just a single action with no lasting effects) **Indirect (not a type in itself, but all powers that have effects over time) ***Constant (have a lasting effect of specified duration on the objective/s) ***Activable (once activated can be deactivated by the caster) ***Aura (only affect players while they are near the caster) *Passive (cannot be cast, simple having them gives some attribute bonus to the character) Casting time Casting is the time the character needs to focus before launching a power. Many powers have a casting time of 0s (displayed as Instant in-game) and the power with the longest casting time is Summon Golem at 10s. Once the casting is over the power activates. While casting, the character cannot move or do any other action. He can receive damage, but if he receives a crowd control effect, the casting will stop. Casting speed The mage power Arcane Devotion, the Goblin power Crippling Strike, and some items affect casting speed. After the 1.6.3 update, these skills and items correctly affect casting speed and not casting time. For example, Arcane Devotion at level 5 claims a cast speed +100%. Thus given a casting time of t_0 , the casting time t = \frac{t_0}{1 + cast speed} . For example, if a Conjurer casts Energy Barrier, which had a cast time of 2 seconds, with level 5 Arcane Devotion the cast time is effectively 1 second. Cooldown buttons showing powers part-way through their cooldown time.]] After being used, all powers have a cooldown time before they can be cast again. This ranges from 3s for Synergy Bond to 360s for Stalker Surroundings. The cooldown time starts from the beginning of the casting period rather than the end, so a hypothetical power with casting 5s and cooldown 25s could be recast every 25 seconds, not 30. Cooldown is indicated on the button for the power. Global Cooldown After a power is used, no power may be used for a certain amount of time. This time depends on the Global Cooldown of the power. Range Powers that are cast on a selected target will have a certain range. This range is independent of the weapon range of the weapon the character is holding, so for example a mage's spell with 25m range would have the 25m range whether they are holding a range 30 or range 20 staff. The exceptions to this are the powers whose range is defined as that of the currently-equipped weapon. In-game these powers are displayed as having a range of 0. Area Some powers will affect multiple enemies or allies, and these powers have a certain area of effect. The value displayed in the power's description is the radius of the affected area. Failure Offensive powers cannot be evaded like normal hits, but they can be blocked by warriors with shields. For more information, see Evades and Blocks. Resists Instead of evaded, powers can be resisted. This is calculated by different attributes though, by weighing the attacker's spell focus against the target's spell resistance. However little is known of the actual calculations. Cancellation Casting times give some vulnerability to powers: it is possible for them to be cancelled. When this happens the power will not be cast but its cooldown will be triggered and 1/3rd of the mana lost. Cancellation can happen by two means: #If, during casting, the caster gets hit by a crowd control effect that renders him unable to cast, such as dizzy or knock down, the casting will be cancelled immediately. It's very common for opponents to try to do this, especially with the powerful area spells that have long cast times. #If, at the end of the casting time, the selected target has moved out of range of the caster or behind an object, or has become invalid by some other means, like using an invulnerablity power such as Low Profile or Sanctuary, the spell will also be cancelled. NOTE: Until Patch 1.0.6, players could run through casting characters to cancel their powers. This "dancing" has been disabled and now running through an opponent won't stop the casting. Objects and range are still a cancel factor.